Vampires
Vampires are Carpathian males that have surrendered their souls and turned evil. If a Carpathian lives long enough, he loses the ability to see colors and feel emotions. The only way to restore those abilities is to meet and claim his lifemate. If he does not meet his lifemate, his options are: * Live a bleak existence with only the memory of honor to keep him going * Meet the dawn: commit suicide by exposing himself to sunlight * Turn vampire: seek the rush of the kill and experience the adrenaline-tinged fear of his victims If the male lifemate does find his lifemate but if his woman dies, the man must die soon after (most often by the hand of another hunter, but this is not always the case) or they will turn into a vampire. As far as we know, three couples never came together, with only two resulting in the the male becoming a vampire. The vampire males are: * Pater turned vampire long before finding Velda Hantz, who had lived her whole life alone, waiting for him. (Dark Destiny) * Mitro Daratrazanoff denied his lifemate, Arabejila, and chose to become a vampire because he felt having a lifemate brought weakness. (Dark Storm) In recent years, vampires have started to band together. This was unheard of as vampires are highly vain and do not care to share with others. It marked a new threat to Carpathians and humans alike. Powers Vampires retain many of the Carpathian powers. They are able to change their appearance at will, shape-shift, control humans, manipulate nature, and camouflage their presence. They can still speak telepathically on the common Carpathian path. One of their many tricks is to weave intricate footwork that entrances and immobilizes their victims. Their blood is acidic, injuring Carpathians even as they themselves are injured. Weaknesses Vampires are even more susceptible to damage by sunlight than Carpathians. Their aura feels malevolent and wrong, which can alert vampire hunters and psychic humans to their presence. Although they hate and fear the purity of Carpathians, they often crave it. They can be killed when their heart is extracted and burned along with their body. Appearance Vampires mask their appearance from humans, trying to look handsome and seductive. Some vampires have difficulty sustaining the illusion, though. In reality, they are quite gruesome. Their skin is gray, their facial features are distorted, their eyes glow red, their hair is thin and scraggly, their teeth are jagged and stained, and their fingers are distorted into talons. Their voices are scratchy and discordant. Exception Sergey and newly turned vampires are the exception to this. This does not mean that they can be saved. Newly turned vampires have not had time to decay. Because they are newly turned, their appearance is still much like how they were before becoming a vampire, but they will gain their vampiric appearance over time. Sergey is a special case. Due to the capture of Elisabeta before even turning, he used her to give him emotions and a clear mind. This means that, though he does have the appearance of a vampire, he deteriorated slower, retaining more of his Carpathian appearance and mind, even a thousand years later. This makes him even more deadly than a normal master vampire. Types of Vampires Lesser Vampire Lesser vampires are rather young, similar to how fledglings are for Carpathians, though not in the same way. Lesser vampires have retained enough of their senses to be cunning and cruel, but still lack much knowledge on how to avoid hunters. Master vampires take the lesser vampires under their wings under the guise of helping them learn how to outlast hunters and even to hide from them, but the masters mainly use lesser vampires as cannon fodder or a distraction to mask their own escape when a strong hunter, or group of hunters, appears in the area. Master Vampire A master vampire has managed to survive for a long time, evading Carpathian hunters. He has gained a lot of skill and knowledge, making him difficult to defeat. Newly Turned Vampire This is the early form of the lesser vampire in that it works on basic needs and instincts, mainly to feed until full. As of late, many master vampires have come to these creatures, even going so far as to entice young Carpathian males that are barely hitting their 200th year, to join the army set up by the Malinov brothers: Vadim, Sergey, Kirja, Ruslan, and Maxim. Because they see that the ancient hunters have no lifemates after looking for so long, Carpathians turn when young and the newly turned join forces with those who clearly have more knowledge for the advantage. Vampiress This is a human woman that a vampire forced to undergo the conversion in order to regain his soul. Normally, the conversion would kill the woman, but sometimes the pain causes those that survive to become deranged. This happens when the woman does not possess strong psychic abilities, if any. These poor souls live off the blood of children and are the cause of pity to many Carpathians since the only way to save them is to destroy them. They are often described as hags due to their appearance. Due to their blood lust and the need to feed off of people, no matter how gruesome, a vampiress is not a minion of the vampire, nor are they a separate species. They are more like a sub-species of the vampire because, though they are created like the vampire's minions, a vampiress is not controlled by the vampire, acting on their own. At this time, there is only one female human who escaped this kind of conversion by one blood exchange, and one other woman who was converted by vampires but did not become a vampiress. In both cases, however, the conversion was highly painful, more so than a conversion done with pure Carpathian blood. Known Vampires Vampires Minions Betrayer A term for vampire used by Carpathians. Typically used in reference to vampires who either kill Carpathians or turn them over to humans to be tortured and killed. Ghoul This is the technical term Carpathians use when talking about puppets created by vampires. Hybrid Also referred to as a giant, this is a half human, half puppet mix that is larger than he should be. They are human psychics that have drunk both vampire and Carpathian blood. They been programmed and enhanced like a puppet, but without the need to consume raw, human flesh. Their punch is like being hit with a sledgehammer and they are difficult to destroy for their size and strength alone. Puppet A human pawn of vampires and dark mages. A vampire promises immortality and takes the puppets' blood numerous times, feeding on them, bringing them to death over and over. Sometimes they feed them a little of their own blood, but mostly they corrupt the minds until they are so far gone they can only follow their master's orders and hunt desperately for blood and human flesh to consume. They salivate constantly, have red-rimmed eyes, and smell like rotting flesh. They can be human or animals. Watcher This is a scout for vampires and is a type of puppet. Usually, they are simply given blood and report to their masters; some are given splinters of the vampire for a stronger connection, allowing their creator to see through their eyes at will. Known Minions Ghouls Trivia * The Vampire Hunting Society and vampires are the only antagonists to appear in every book, either by appearing in the book or being mentioned. Vampires are often considered the main antagonist in many books, using other beings as delaying tactics or to kill others. Category:Species Category:World of Carpathians